REVIEW: Starbucks Shaken Iced Peach Green Tea Lemonade

Starbucks’ new Shaken Iced Peach Green Tea Lemonade can’t decide what it wants to be. Is it iced tea? No. Is it green tea? No. Is it a peach drink? No. Is it lemonade? No. It’s all of these.

Well, I’ve got news for you, Starbucks. You can’t just combine a bunch of drinks together and expect anyone but your hipster clientele to purchase it. A good beverage takes a considerable amount of forethought. Who do you think you are? Arnold Palmer?

Since you insist on combining all of these drinks, I have high expectations for your concoction. This Iced Peach Green Tea Lemonade better be superior to each of its individual components.

As I entered my local Starbucks, the throng of hipsters seated throughout the store looked up from their MacBooks and stared. (They can smell fear. They know I’m not one of them!) Ignoring their death-glares, I approached the counter and placed my order for a tall Iced Peach Green Tea Lemonade. Amidst the acoustic/indie/jazz music playing over the speakers, I watched the barista expertly shake together green tea, lemonade, peach syrup, and ice. (Perhaps Starbucks is now training their employees with Shake Weights.)

The first thing I noticed upon receiving my beverage was its color. Aside from having an unnecessarily long name, the Iced Peach Green Tea Lemonade has a yellow-orange hue to it, reminiscent of watered down apple juice.

Its flavor starts out slightly floral, soon evolving into the taste of a common, plain green tea. The lemonade provides a light sweetness, not the overwhelming acidity which many lemonades possess. Unfortunately, I found the taste to be somewhat disappointing. I expected the peach syrup to provide a strong fruity flavor, but the peach remains a subtle addition to the beverage; the green tea and lemonade combination drowns out the peach flavoring.

Although the beverage is pleasant, it falls short of being spectacular. Its flavors might blend without clashing, but their combination seems largely unmemorable. It’s mediocre at best; I’ve purchased canned half-and-half iced tea lemonade drinks that taste superior for much less of a price.

Furthermore, a stronger peach flavor was needed for the addition of the peach syrup to be seen as worthwhile. For these reasons, I can’t say I’ll be purchasing the Iced Peach Green Tea Lemonade again. Starbucks has added yet another drink to their menu which fails to impress.

Since when is corporate America’s darling child a hipster haven? Maybe in the backwoods of the poe-dunk nowheresville! I’m drinking a peach green tea lemonade right now and detected a chemical taste in there that smells very similar to my heavy hair mask I use on the weekend. Coincidence?

I just bought this on a whim. I felt like veering from my usual refresher and this was the first cold, fruity drink I spotted on the menu. It’s not bad at all, but I’m not that impressed either. Like someone else said, it might be better with black tea. I’ll give that a shot next time, but as far as the iced peach green tea lemonade: no thank you.

I might be one of these hipster starbucks people you mention; however, I don’t hang out in a Starbucks on my laptop and I definitely don’t stare people down. :) I just had to comment and share my thoughts on this. I personally believe Starbucks did it right with this drink. It’s one of my favorites, and I’d be lying if I said I haven’t had one a day since it came out (obsessive, I know.) I agree with you, in that the peach flavor was extremely subtle, and was so disappointed as I love their green tea lemonade, and peach flavor. However, the best part about Starbucks is that you can completely customize your drink, I feel like not many people realize this. Too sweet? Tell them light on lemonade. Not enough peach? Ask for an extra pump! I religiously order venti peach green tea with light lemonade and an extra pump of syrup to amp up the peach flavor.

I think that this drink was a slight disappointment to me. I was expecting it to be sweet with no sourness from the lemonade what so ever. At first when I tasted the drink, I thought I was an angel in heaven soaring through the sky with my wings, but then I taste the sour taste of the lemonade that tastes like grass in my opinion, even though I never tasted grass. I asked them to add more peach syrup which made the “grass taste” wear away bit. Next time, I’m asking for it without the lemonade.

I don’t know why you’re associating Starbucks with hipsters. Anyways, I agree with the majority of you, it’s not the worst nor the best. It seems to be the kind of beverage that if you were handed it, you’d drink it for the sake of drinking it. The same goes to many Starbucks beverages. I’ll stick to my regular (and painfully mediocre) sweetened iced green tea…for now.

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